


jericho: neighborhood gang of street rats

by scoutbonfire



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Adoption, Alternate Universe - High School, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Crime Scenes, Denial of Feelings, Depression, Drug Addiction, Drunk Gavin, Drunken Kissing, Dysfunctional Family, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Siblings, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Issues, Family Member Death, First Kiss, Foster Care, Friends to Lovers, Frustration, Gavin Reed Needs a Hug, Gun Violence, Holding Hands, Homeschool, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Hurt Gavin Reed, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jealousy, LMAO, M/M, Major Character Injury, Moving Out, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Possessive Upgraded Connor | RK900, Simon needs a hug, Slow Burn, Threats of Violence, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, Worried Markus (Detroit: Become Human), no beta we die like men, scooter is jerichos cat but mostly gavins, spray painting, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-11-08 05:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17975732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scoutbonfire/pseuds/scoutbonfire
Summary: bad things happen all of the time, whether you ask for it or not. bad things happen when you least expect it.human!au and time set in 2019lowercase fic





	1. find jericho.

the sound of the tv on the news channel played softly while the neighbor’s lawnmower roared and then proceeded to do its purpose. the soothing humming of amanda stern filled the quiet living room of the family’s little home. connor and richard sit in the dining table, eating breakfast miss stern cooked for them. connor was feasting on handfuls of dry oatmeal and richard was drinking coffee that he managed to brew without miss stern realizing in time. usually she would never let him indulge in the caffeinated beverage but ever since he’d hit the age of 16, she gave up in trying to snatch the mugs away.

“connor, why don’t you just eat the oatmeal in a bowl like a normal human?” richard cringed when his almost lookalike drops from crumbs on the table from his hand and mouth.

“i’m not like other girls, richard. i’m quirky, you don’t have the right to make decisions for me.” connor smirked as he proceeded to intentionally drop a couple more oatmeal on the table and even spilling some on the tiles. “plus, you shouldn’t be talking, you aren’t even eating breakfast.”

“coffee gets me through the day just fine, food only slows me down.” richard eyed connor with a blank look and acts much more superior.

“suit yourself but at least eat an apple.” connor rolled his eyes but has a sympathetic frown on his face. richard didn’t like being sympathized with, he similarizes it with pity.

“what are you, my doctor?” richard furrowed his eyebrows as he bit at connor. richard never really focused on expressions while his brother was beyond overdramatic at just about anything and everything.

“just eat _something_ , richie.” connor pops the last handful of oatmeal into his mouth and then sits up to wash the bowl, which wasn’t really dirty to begin with but miss stern will throw a fit if connor made anyone reuse a oatmeal-smelled bowl. richard scolded him once for leaving his finished cereal bowl back in the cabinet.

“pass me the strawberries then.” richard gives in and follows connor to the sink to wash his coffee mug.

“you know that strawberries won’t get you through the day, right?” connor sighs as he opened the fridge to find a clear plastic slotted basket full of strawberries ripe for consumption. connor grabbed it and popped a berry in his mouth before handing it richard who was drying his hands.

“you ate a total of eleven handfuls of oatmeal without using a spoon and only oatmeal that's without any other nutritional value. you can’t be talking.”

“what do you know about nutritional value?” connor grinned as richard was about to walk away before miss stern’s voice picked up from the recliner she was occupied on.

“boys! quiet down.” miss stern increases the volume of the tv and listens carefully. richard and connor make their way to the living room as well and take a glance of what’s going on.

“—eems to have a robbery at a nearby convenience store, seven-eleven, the police had yet to find the armed suspect. no one was hurt, thankfully. the thief had been reported to have stolen money, cigarettes, and tobacco.”

“oh god, i hope johnny is okay.” miss stern worries and starts fidgeting with her fingers idly.

“you mean one of the employees at the store?” connor asked curiously and kept his eyes on the tv.

“indeed. i visited mr. chen a few days ago and he had just gotten divorced and surely didn’t need more things on his plate. i should come by again.” miss stern gets up from her recliner and walks to the kitchen to find anything to gift johnny. “maybe i should bake cookies…”

connor kept watching the news, the interviewer was asking an old police lieutenant questions about the robbery and how they were going to catch the thief. the security cameras managed to get a pixelated outline of the robber. they assumed a male with a dark red beanie and a puffy black leather jacket. the man was armed but wore a black bandana to cover his face. the police couldn’t identify more than that.

while connor was stuck in a trance with the tv, richard loudly bites a strawberry and connor turns his head annoyed but it vanishes as his face lights up. “should i be a police officer?”

richard almost choked on his strawberry but manages to cough and finish swallowing. “you want to be a police officer? don’t you know how dangerous that could be?”

“i understand, but i don’t want anyone to get hurt. mr. chen at the convenience store could’ve gotten hurt! i bet it’ll be a piece of cake to get into police academy.” connor huffed and looked at miss stern for support but she was too busy making cookie dough to notice. they can talk about the topic another time.

richard shakes his head and stares at connor with a plead in his icy blue eyes, which are entirely different from connor’s brown big ones. “i really hope you’ll be right on that.”

“shut up, i’m just considering it. i’m still seventeen, i have enough time to think it over.” connor crosses his arms and falls onto the couch with a cushioned thud. “you don’t have a clue on what you’ll be when you grow up anyways so, right now, i’m better than you.”

“you’re worse than me in many ways but for your information, i do have a clue.” richard pouts but you could barely see it.

“and what’s that?” connor smirks and waits for richard to speak up.

“i—“ richard started. “i have no clue.”

“how about i allow you to follow in my dreams too. we could be partners in crime.” connor finger guns and winks. richard’s disgusted look would’ve gotten connor to burst out laughing if it weren’t for the pillow that was thrown to his face.

“that’s not what partners in crime mean but i would consider your offer when we graduate.” richard means it genuinely. he wouldn’t want to be alone in the outside world to figure out whatever to survive by himself.

“you’ll find something you’ll be decent at!” connor throws the pillow back but richard catches it. after a second of smirking and pouting, the smell of baked almond cookies bounced around the room. hunger was really setting in now..., richard self-deprecates.

“okay, i’ll be visiting mr. chen for a while so don’t burn down the house or get kidnapped,” miss stern fast-walks over to richard and connor to give them both a kiss on their foreheads, richard gave an uncomfortable look and connor smiles back at miss stern and waves her off. “i’ll be back soon and when that happens you both better be sleeping.” after that, the woman left clutching her cardigan close to her chest and the basket of the vegan cookies.

“she didn’t offer us any cookies…” connor gets up from the couch and heads to the back door.

“connor, if she did the cookies would be gone.” richard follows suit after connor. they go outside every once in a while, usually to talk about private matters or just to joke around.

“you don’t know that.” connor opens the door and leaves it open knowing richard had been behind him.

“i know everything.”

“says the person who almost ran over pedestrians while learning how to drive.” connor laughed at himself and drops himself on the playground swing.

“they got in my way, they should’ve known that there was a car coming.” richard grabs the chains and starts rocking himself too. “you have made plenty more mistakes than me.”

“we don’t talk about that.” connor glared at richard but with a small smile on his face. it took away the feeling of intimidation, which richard never felt whenever he was around connor.

“what? like how you kept falling whenever you mopped the floors?” richard smiles, for the first time today. connor rolls his eyes and swings himself high off the ground.

“when i said misty copeland was my idol for a day, i meant it, now let’s drop the subject.” connor said with a smile on his face.

“i will always bring this up.”

“then i’ll bring up the time you basically fell in love with—“ connor stops talking and glances at the yelling coming from the other side of the fence surrounding their backyard.

“—OOTER! come back, baby! it was just an accident, i swear!” a voice that sounded like a male teenager but much higher pitched, like the stranger was talking in a baby voice. connor and richard made eye contact, both looking as confused as the other. connor got up from the swing and to the fence.

“are you okay?” connor assures and waits for a reply that he definitely got, connor must’ve surprised him a bit.

“oh! uh, i’m fine. just my cat ran away thanks to two dumbasses.” connor gives a smile even though the person on the other side couldn’t see it, of course richard could though as he gives connor an eyebrow and connor telepathically shuts him up.

“how long have you’ve been looking for it?”

“just passing a couple houses.” the stranger sounded a bit out of breath, not as if he were to pass out though. “do you go to kjellberg high? i don’t think i’ve heard your voice before.”

“why would i tell you if i did?” connor sits on stacked fertilizer bags and rests his back to the brown chipped fence, waving richard to come and sit down with him. richard sighs and obliges.

“would you answer my question if i tell you who i am?” the deep voice was clearer now that connor moves closer. it was somewhat soothing but he’ll never admit that to the stranger nor with his teasing brother right next to him, keeping quiet.

“it depends on who you are.” connor smirks.

“that’s a safe enough bet. my name is markus, two of my rowdy friends scared off his cat, scooter, then i had to go after him. i go to kjellberg, i’m in my senior year so i’ll be out of his hellhole of a state soon.” connor can hear the man, markus, crumple up some paper and he can hear a pen click. “now answer my question.”

“well, you sound truthful enough. i don’t go to high school, i learn from home. my name—“ connor cuts himself off and turns to richard, he shakes his head and connor nodded. he thinks for a moment before speaking back up. “you can call me eights.”

“eights, huh? i get why you wouldn’t want to tell me your real name. i am just a stranger to you anyway. you sound smart, take this.” markus slides a sticky note through a crack in between the fence and connor takes it. it read a symbol and a quoted message, “ _find jericho_ ”.

“thanks, i guess? what do you expect from me to do with this?” connor looks back at the fence, he feels a bit silly now that he might look funny talking to a fence with a soothing voice. richard didn’t seem to have an opinion on the matter though so he buries the thought.

“i hope you will be able to find us. all i can tell you is to look around. i’ll see you then, eights.” connor was about to ask again but he makes out gravel being stepped on and then markus was gone. he hears another faint “scooter?” though.

after the conversation with stranger was over, connor looked at the note and studies the strange symbol.

“may i ask why you chose eights?” richard peaks his head forward and connor turns back to lock eye contact with richard who had kept his eyebrow raised.

“october 8, 2008. don’t tell me you forgot about the day miss stern and dad got married.” connor playfully punched richard’s shoulder and got up from the bags they occupied.

“i don’t forget things.” richard rubbed his arm idly even though the punch didn’t hurt. “what are you going to about the note then?”

“obviously we’re going to find whatever jericho is.” connor placed his hands on his hips and heads to go back inside for reasons richard doesn’t know.

“where are you going then?” richard hurries off the fertilizer bags and inside like connor had done. he always goes off and does things without talking or checking with anyone first.

he followed connor to his room with a backpack already in front of him on the floor.

“i’m packing the necessaries in case markus is a kidnapper or if we get in any trouble.” connor said calmly as he zipped open his black backpack.

“so you’re bringing surgical masks?” richard asked, questions flooding his head.

“you never know, richie.” connor smiled but it soon was covered by his mask that had cartoonish dog’s snout print and pulled out another mask with a bunch of tiny little colorful robots with more little colorful shapes with a dark blue background to complete the little boy gendered product. “this is for you.”

richard eyed the mask in disbelief and offensively looked back at connor. “you expect me to wear that?” richard frowned at the childish mask and held it with two fingers and as far away from him as possible.

“of course. it’ll be funny when we pull it down and he’ll see that we both look alike.” connor’s crinkled when he turned to richard, even when his smile is hidden, richard can still sense the positive energy radiating off of the elder brother. “if you won’t wear it then at least just keep it in our bag.”

“i was planning to.” richard dropped it in the backpack with a careless expression.

“rude.” connor pouted but he knew richard couldn’t see that. he dug more into the depths of his closet and found something else. he pulled the mask down to his chin and unknowingly frowned.

“what is it?” richard walked on his knees to sit next to connor on the ground. connor leaned out and grabbed a worn black beanie to show richard who’s eyes slightly widened. “is that…?”

“i guess so… i think i took it when we were playing dress-up all those years ago.” connor sadly smiled when thinking of richard and him laughing and get all excited to dressing up like miss stern and dad only to find miss stern later scolding them for making a mess but dad just laughed it off. connor fixed the beanie and then pulled it over his head.

“it fits better now. last time it covered your eyes and you ran into the dresser.” richard attempted at comforting connor with jokes. it seemed to have done its job since he chuckled a bit.

“thanks for the embarrassing memory. dad had recorded it and posted it on facebook.” connor cringed but laughed. richard laughed for a while too.

“you’re set then?” richard got up and looked at the clock. 1:54 p.m. they had more than enough time to get back before miss stern would, as long as they didn’t run into her when coming back. connor nodded in response and pulled the backpack to hang on his shoulders. “what did you even put in there? it looks too packed to only carry my mask.”

“you’ll see.” connor hummed and went skipping out of the door.

richard got up and grabbed his keys off of the drawer and turned off the light. when he stepped out of connor’s room, the other was already waiting impatiently by the front door.

“let’s go now.” connor let open the door and stepped out, already going to the driveway. richard locked the door behind him and went after connor. connor was rushing things but he didn’t know why. the thought of seeing whoever markus really was got his curiosity spiking and he was desperate to relieve it. richard probably would think him as weird but then drained the thought. richard never judged him so connor shouldn’t be thinking so lowly of his older brother.

“let me see the note.” richard pulled his hand out and waited for connor to stick his hands into every pocket before finding it in his back pocket. he took a good look of the symbol himself and then handed it to richard.

“do we just start walking until we find it then?” connor asked, now completely unsure of what to do in the situation. are they just going to jump into this blindly? they only know markus’ name and where he goes to school but that’s about it. what is jericho anyway? is it some low-profit organization or just a group of other high schoolers? how would they even spot the symbol considering how wide their neighborhood was. it’s mostly a littered space where there’s houses but also barely anyone cleaning the place. the people who live here have to mow the grass and pick up the trash. no one could clean up all of the leaves that fall during autumn but it doesn’t mind anyone much.

“i see one.”

connor swung his head in richard’s direction with a confused and surprised look. “what? how? where?” connor started to look around everywhere until richard cut him off.

“it’s spray painted on that tree.” richard pointed to the direction of the kelsie family’s house and sure enough, one of their trees had the symbol spray painted with black paint.

“let’s follow it then! don’t just point and tell me where it was!” connor made a run for the tree across the street.

“but you’re the one who—we’re running, we’re running now, that’s fine.” richard could be heard from behind him but connor chose to ignore the irritated mumbling.

“can you spot another one?” connor smiles brighter, clearly excited about this scavenger hunt they’re having.

“just because i saw the first symbol, doesn’t mean i’ll find the next.” richard shook his head and took one glance around the corner of the street and groaned. “it’s on that fence over there.”

“you’re the best, little brother!” connor said with enough sarcastic enthusiasm and skipped over to where richard guided.

“never talk to me again.” richard jogged up to connor who haven’t reached the fence yet before he gets tackled from the other side of the corner of the sidewalk they were on.

richard heard connor yelp and a low groan coming from the attacker. connor got up from the grass and the stranger on top of him got up hastily and shoved off dirt from his clothes. the clothes the boy was wearing was a brown leather jacket and a black and gray striped sweater. his baggy black ripped jeans showed the skin underneath that had been red and scraped from the fall. his hair was brown, messy, and unkempt and it stuck to the sweat from his forehead.

richard blinked and felt his face burn. why was he burning up? was it the adrenaline or the heat? it wasn’t that hot out so it was definitely the adrenaline.

“move out of the way!” the stranger yelled and went to turn the other way but unfortunately for him, richard was blocking the path. “get out of my way.”

richard then got a better look of the rude stranger’s face. he had dark gray eyes and his hair looked even more messy from this angle. the stranger had bared his teeth and that allowed richard to see how sharp his canines were. his right eyebrow was had a little scar coming through and there was another scar that went diagonally on his lips to his chin. richard kept his eye on that for longer than he wanted. he then saw red coming from the top of his forehead and only tiny drips coming down to his scarred eyebrow. what stuck out was the red scar on his nose. it didn’t look recent nor was it old. richard’s growing curiosity for the stranger wasn’t helping him in this situation since richard didn’t notice him moving forwards and shoulder checking him.

richard’s mind then snapped out of the trance and he grabbed the kid’s arm without thinking.

“what the fuck? get the hell off!” the stranger tried pulling back his arm but richard didn’t let go so easily. instead, richard pulled the kid in close until he could hear his breathing.

“apologize to my brother.” richard pierced his eyes into the other stranger’s. he had gotten the color of his eyes wrong. they weren’t gray but a dim and dark shade of green. richard’s expression must’ve changed when the stranger instinctively kicked richard in the shin causing him to groan and sink down.

“don’t you dare touch me!” the stranger was about to stumble back a bit when connor came out and caught him. the kid slumped down and was liquid in connor’s arms. connor made a noise of disgust and accidentally dropped him to the grass bed. richard got up and stood over the kid who was rubbing his head harshly and groaning incoherent mumbles.

“i didn’t mean to drop you there. you just surprised me, i’m sorry.” connor bent down and tried helping the kid back up but his hand was swatted away and the stranger got up by himself.

“i don’t wanna hear it, dogface.” dogface.

“excuse me? i’ll have you know that—“ connor was cut off by calls and yelling coming from where the kid had came from.

“how the fuck can he run so goddamn fast?” a female voice cursed.

“he’s on the track team, what did you expect?” a deep and masculine voice.

“not this!”

before richard could break off in a run, three teenagers showed up and it had to be bad timing since richard was on the ground huddled around the suspect they might’ve been looking for and connor had his hands shielding around the kid.

“what happened here?” a familiar voice now. deep and soothing and frantic. connor whipped his head up and saw two very pretty eyes staring right back at him. they weren’t the same. one was green and the other had been blue. they were so beautiful. “who are you?”

connor recognizes the voice now. it was so clear, he should’ve known. he smiles, genuinely, too happy or excited for his own good.

“eights.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates and details at tumblr (@lilsickooutside), come by to ask questions there if you want. don't let me abandon this thank u.


	2. house of lost and found.

the wind blew and the leaves ruffled against the road’s pebbles and markus’ eyes widened. “it’s you!” markus’ mouth grew into a wide smile and ran to give connor a surprising hug.

“oh!” markus was so close. connor could feel his breaths and his heartbeat and— _oh god, he’s breathing on my neck._ connor shivers and markus must’ve felt it since he backed off as soon as he did.

“sorry, i’ve been too used to being touchy.” markus nervously laughs at himself and sees the cursing squirming mess on the ground with his wrists trapped by...another eights? “who…?”

connor perked up when markus saw richard. “don’t worry! he’s my brother. his name is—“

“nines.” richard cut in and turned to connor with his cool calm eyes. unbothered by the situation even though he’s literally holding a kid hostage.

“eights and nines, huh? well, we would appreciate ya’ if you’d let my good friend over there go.” one of markus’ friends said and rests on his shoulder. connor was getting uncomfortable now but markus didn’t look like he was and he did say he was touchy.

“very well.” richard let the boy go and he immediately fell and got up. he stumbled but the woman who demanded him back caught him. richard amused over the boy’s attempt at getting away.

“how the actual fuck are you so fuckin’ strong?” the boy turned back at richard and glared. his posture was lean but was slumping and it seemed he wasn’t really in the best state of mind.

“sorry about this trash man, he drank too much this morning.” the woman didn’t smile and the apology didn’t seem genuine but she did seem truthful.

“drank? as in he drank _alcohol_?” connor said curiously. another one of markus’ friends spoke up this time.

“yeah, he’s a big mess.” the tall teen smirked at the drunken teen and earned himself the middle finger.

“shut the fuck up, josh. i don’t wanna hear any mommy lectures right now.” the stranger groaned and tried to stand up straight but wobbled and gripped on the lady’s shoulder tighter when she let him go. “i don’t feel so good.”

“that’s because you downed a whole fucking bottle, dumbass! jesus, gavin, don’t you dare puke on me.” _so his name was gavin_. richard listened to gavin’s groans and curses. the way they spoke was so foreign to their own home. miss stern almost never cursed when they were home. she would mostly replace them with substitute curses like frick and crap.

“i thought you didn’t mind getting a little dirty, tina.” gavin smirked and the woman, tina, punched his shoulder playfully.

“ _gavin_.” tina have gavin a warning glare with a dangerous smile.

“especially with kat— _mph_.” gavin’s mouth was slapped shut and all richard could hear after was a muffled _ow_!

“anyways, thanks for keeping my friend here hostage, we’ll be going now.” tina quickly turned around and when holding gavin with her arm wrapped around his neck, he went in after too and almost brought them both down. josh snorted when he turned to watch.

“slow down, you crazy bitch!” gavin barked then tina flipped him off.

“wait! markus said for us to find jericho but we’re a little lost. could we tag along with you?” connor asked naïvely. markus failed holding in a laugh and connor turned to him confused.

“the point is to get lost. you could turn around and give us a five minute head start.” markus mocked.

“yeah, how’d you think we all got here? being friends, i mean.” josh smirked and gavin ughed.

connor and richard looked at each other but richard didn’t give any help with his expressionless face but connor could tell he, himself, was obviously uncertain.

“go ahead.” connor turned around and heard snickering and curses until they started to fade out and then it was just him and richard. it would be a good time to finally answer his prolonged question. “way to one-up me on everything. why did you choose _nines_?” connor joked and turned to richard who was facing straight ahead.

“november 9, 2009.” they both fell silent and connor nodded in understanding. richard never showed extreme affection or love to anyone. they knew that he loved them but he never said “i love you” or anything like that.

“do you miss him?” connor asked and richard kept his posture but his head fell down a little.

“wouldn’t you?”

“everyday. even though we only knew him for a year.”

“you still felt close, i presume?” richard finally looked at connor and he was caught smiling to himself.

“somehow. i actually thought i knew him too. thought i knew everything he’ll do and every thought in his mind but i guess i didn’t.” connor’s smile fell into a frown but he brushed off the topic. “we don’t need to be thinking about him anymore. we still need to find jericho.”

richard’s eyebrows furrowed when connor smiles again and turned around to stop at the jericho symbol before when they were interrupted. richard followed but didn’t like how connor could immediately switch to grief to determination. he doesn’t believe the feeling is true though.

“i heard them walk to michelangelo street.” richard pointed his thumb to said street and connor pouted.

“way to ruin the surprise.” connor began walking where richard point and saw a jericho symbol painted on a broken down car with the trunk door missing. how had it not have been towed yet?

“you say you don’t want to be surprised yet here you are,” richard smirked in the corner of connor’s eye and he gave him a blank stare. “it’s an abandoned old car.”

“yeah. one that hasn’t been towed away.” connor spots broken down and worn down orange construction fences. there had a ripped out hole at the bottom corner and also a chain linked fence behind it with another hole. a car trunk door was ripped off the of the previous car just behind them to show ten jericho symbols but all was in different handwritings and one that was just a line that went to the floor. they all had their own colors too.

“so markus and the others live in a hole in the ground? i don’t fully trust this place.” connor crouched down and tilted his head to look in the hole.

“it could be a construction site, considering the construction fence.” richard tried peering through the fence but the trees were in the way.

“if this is where the end of the neighborhood leads then why did markus choose it? or, better question, why did jericho choose it?” connor lifted his mask closer to the bridge of the his nose. he’d almost forgotten he’d been wearing it.

“you’ll know if you would just crawl in.” richard’s voice was louder, taking out his current impatience with connor.

“this is new territory, okay! i’ve never crawled in a boarded off area before.” connor rolled his eyes as he got on his knees and tried not to get his back scratched by the fence. richard can be heard following right behind him. why were they doing this anyway? this is honestly the most stupidest thing they’d ever done. they should just go back home. markus never said they couldn’t anyway and who was the teen who had drank alcohol? this now doesn’t sound safe but he can’t back out now with richard literally staring at his butt.

connor got his body out of the confines of the hole and stood up to scan his surroundings. the tree branches was pushed to the side or just broken off and the ground was overgrown with grass. connor shrieked when he saw a spider web and knocked himself into richard.

connor recollected himself and continues walking at a slow pace, being much more mindful of hidden insects. he was much more grateful for the mask he had on his face now.

“you’re more covered than me and you’re scared?” richard complained and connor gasped offended by him.

“why aren’t you scared then?”

“i had to take care of all of the insects you screamed and begged for me to kill.” richard stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked at a little rock to hit connor’s leg.

“i’ve never thanked you for those, have i?” connor’s eyes crinkled as he smiled playfully.

when connor finished his sentence, they reached the end of the path and ducked under some branches. when connor pulled his head up, he saw a abandoned-looking building in front of him and stared in awe. it looked like a house for a farmer considering all of the extra land around. connor admired the scene for another moment before turning to richard who was squinting at sudden movement when he looked, connor tilted his head in confusion.

“who was that?” connor asked and richard furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to observe the environment.

“most likely one of the people who stay here. the spray painted trunk showed ten different symbols, correct? then it’s safe to assume there’s ten people here including gavin, tina, markus, and josh.” richard explained and continued walking towards the house.

“should we, maybe, knock on their door then? we could introduce ourselves better and a chance to meet the rest.” connor pulled down his mask and breathed in the air besides his own carbon dioxide.

“this house hasn’t been clean in years. it has rust and ash all over. we’re not going in there.” richard’s face screamed disgust and uncomfortableness. connor only shrugged and rolled his eyes.

“you can’t judge a book by its cover. don’t you want to find out what’s inside?”

“personally, no.” richard then sighed when connor started walking before he could finish his sentence. richard had no choice then and walked through the long grass.

the two reached the porch of the farmhouse and connor only hesitated for a second before knocking twice. connor waited for a moment before knocking three times this time. he waited and richard whispered into connor’s ear to ask if he could knock the door down. connor immediately refused and just went to turn the doorknob. surprisingly, the door opened and connor peeked inside.

he looked left and right and only saw nothing but darkness and worn down carpet and clothes. connor let the door open all the way and took a step inside. he looked down at the doormat he was standing on and saw traces of recent dirt and mud. he observed the patterned curtains covering the windows and the wood floor. it had dirt and dust all over. connor looked back at richard and he was looking at empty alcohol bottles on the coffee table and the cushions that fell to the floor. would that be where gavin drank?

richard turned away from the scene and saw polaroid pictures taped on the wall. the pictures inside were still intact. in the first picture he saw there had a short girl with short bleached hair and a tall boy with incredible biceps and their arms around each other’s waists, both smiling. another one had three boys and a girl posing like idiots but the photo was still somehow charming. richard recognized markus and josh but the other two was a mystery.

richard sees another with a short boy and a girl forcing him to smile. richard recognized that it was gavin and tina. he liked that one but couldn’t figure out why.

they only had eight present in the photos. richard thought there had to be two more since there had ten symbols. richard brushes off the thought and proceeded to snoop around some more but he heard multiple footsteps from outside. they couldn’t have been connor’s because connor was looking at dvds on the bookshelf. richard turned to the door, ready to run out the back if there was one if necessary.

“who the fuck are you two? stay where you are and raise your hands!” a girl wearing four belts and her hair in a braid and a boy with short blonde hair was blocking the door. richard saw they didn’t have any weapons and put his hands up. he also questioned why she was wearing four belts but decided against it. out of the corner of his eye he could see connor doing the same.

“we mean you no harm! it’s just that—“ connor attempted to calm the woman who was currently enraged.

“shut the fuck up and stay where you are.” she growled and turned to the blonde kid who looked scared to death. “si, don’t let them outta your sight. i’ll get the others.” she then ran out of the house and the poor kid was now alone with connor and richard.

he looked at both of them and his face then turned sad and shocked. he coughed and stuttered when he talked. “uh, h-hi there.” he tried giving a nervous smile but it just looked pathetic and panicked.

“please calm down. we wouldn’t hurt you, promise.” connor gave a genuine enough smile and the kid seemed to ease up a bit.

“y-yeah, we’ll see about that.” the blonde now turned his attention to richard who had been just watching. he didn’t look threatening or was the kid trying to be. he just looked at richard with untrusting eyes. richard wouldn’t lie and say that it might’ve made him annoyed.

“simon! what’s going on in here?” a deep low voice yelled from outside. richard and connor both turned and richard took the opportunity of the blonde kid facing the door to run. connor saw him too and hesitated before running after him. the two both tried looking for the back door and as soon as richard found it, he lurched to turn the knob and sprint out as fast as he can. connor was quick to shut the door behind him to slow down the blonde kid and the other guy chasing them.

richard looked behind him to see if connor was still on his trail but when he did, he tackled something and fell to the ground, hearing his own grunt and someone else’s loud ow!

connor didn’t seem to see richard on the ground because of the grass and that left him to trip over them and fall on his forehead.

“holy phckin’ shit! get the hell off of me, you sick bastard!” a wheezing voice growled from under richard and as soon as connor rolled off, richard got up at a sonic speed and looked at the voice under him.

gavin coughed and panted. he opened his teary eyes and locked them with richard. his face then turned pissed and pained. richard observed how close he is now to the teen.

“oh! is that gavin?” a panicked voice came from behind them but richard couldn’t move because of the claws of gavin keeping him down and his legs that wrapped around his knees. at least gavin couldn’t hit him since he was pinning his wrists down. “s-should we help—“

“oi! gavin! you better stop running off or else you’ll attract attention to—uh.” a feminine voice came into play then. connor pulled himself up with his elbows and looked around at simon and someone who looked very intimidating from on the ground.

connor turned to tina who had a bat in her hand and markus running up from behind her. they locked eyes for a split second before he saw richard on top of gavin.

“gavin the kink-king and hello, nines, nice to see you again.” tina rolled her eyes and gavin’s face then got red and freed richard right away. richard then felt his own face burn up for an unknown reason. was it just hot outside today? climate change is a bitch.

“i’ve gotten ran into twice and pinned down twice today. god really is out to get me, huh.” gavin covered his flushed face with his arm. those had to be the first sentences that didn’t include any curse words today.

“yeah.” tina raised her eyebrow and smirked at the miserable kid.

“could you please shut your mouth for like at least two seconds, you hungover ass.” the braided woman walked from behind markus and eyed gavin who had flipped her off.

“north.” markus laid a hand on her shoulder and turned to richard and connor who are now surrounded so there isn’t really anywhere to run now unless they push past someone. the amber blonde girl, north, scowled and squared her shoulders a bit more.

connor slipped off the black beanie and fixed his hair a bit before standing up. he grabbed richard’s hand and he got up too. richard reached for gavin’s hand but he slapped it away and got up by himself.

“we made it.” connor said to markus and after a moment, markus burst out laughing. connor looked at him confused and looked at everyone else who was either grinning or laughing along. north and gavin seemed to be the only ones who weren’t.

“you did, didn’t you? but you ran off.” markus kept his smile and connor couldn’t help but feel ashamed for running. “that’s okay though, being able to run is important. just glad gavin was able to stop you.”

“so i’m just a human barrier?” gavin eyed markus and he chuckled. connor let a smile pass through too.

“you’re okay to stay here, right?” markus asked.

“for now.” richard said and crossed his arms.

“who even are these people?” north whispered into markus’ ear loud enough for connor and richard to hear as well.

“my name is eights. my brother here is nines.” connor fumbled with his beanie and north rolled her eyes.

“you guys have numbers as names. i wonder where’re the other six of you two.” gavin snickered at his own joke and richard and him locked eyes. even though richard looked intimidating enough, gavin didn’t back out of their little staring contest.

“let us introduce ourselves too before you two take us to the police.” markus’ smile then didn’t look like it did. it looked suggesting.

“why would we take you to the police?” connor just got more confused when everyone seemed to relax. _were they scared of the police or something?_

“don’t think about it too much.” simon spoke up before markus could and he looked grateful. grateful enough to be happy about two intruders that broke into an abandoned house and won’t call the police. “i’m simon phillips.” and went to shake hands with connor and richard. “this is luther,” the tall man shook hands with them too.

“i’m tina chen! the pissbaby here is gavin reed.” tina wrapped her arm around gavin’s neck and hugged him tight before pulling away unexpectedly. “you stink of booze, dude.”

“fuck off, harley quinn wannabe.” gavin and tina smirked at each other. richard thinks about how strange their duo is.

“north mills, don’t piss me off.” she scoffed and crossed her arms.

“it seems like you’re already pissed off.” markus said under his breath but north heard him loud and clear and almost broke into a laugh but stopped herself. “anyways, we have josh and kara but kara is busy babysitting and josh is at home.”

“then why were there ten symbols?” connor asked.

simon looked down and markus questioned him. “excuse me?”

“the ones on the car trunk. i only see six of you here and if two aren’t, then where’s the other two?”

“there’s actually eleven symbols. scooter just couldn’t spray the symbol right but don’t you dare blame him.” gavin pointed his finger into connor’s chest and got pulled back by tina.

“the other two,” markus started but then looked at simon who still had his head down. “we don’t have any other two members.”

“but—“ connor tried pushing but then he got interrupted by north.

“listen, pal. if we say we don’t have any other members then we don’t fucking have any other members! drop it.” north scoffed and went to go inside.

“don’t worry about her, she’s just in a pissed off mood today.” gavin said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter.

“gavin, not now.” tina grabbed the lighter from his hand and gavin whined.

“c’mon just give it back. i’m getting all jittery.” gavin tried reaching for the cigarette back but tina just kept stretching her hand out farther the closer he’d get.

“that’s your damn fault! go feed scooter or something.” tina passed the cigarette to luther and hid it in his pocket.

gavin backed off and stomped into the house. “we’re running out of cat food so one of you have to be stuck with me when i go to the store.”

everyone rolled their eyes and tina followed gavin inside, tossing the bat to the side. markus walked over to simon and put a hand on his shoulder. “i’ll take simon to his room, luther you can deal with eights and nines.”

luther nodded and connor and richard looked at each other. as confused as they are, this place didn’t seem all that bad. maybe the people but it’s not like they would cause any trouble. connor gave richard a reassuring smile. richard then went to whisper into connor’s ear. “here, we’ll have to be eights and nines.” richard pulled away and connor nodded.

“you two will have to hang in the living room if you’re really staying.”

“what do you mean staying? we’re not going to live here right?” eights said as he followed luther inside.

“you can stay here if you’ll like. gavin and north stay here sometimes. it’s okay though, their parents don’t mind.” luther grabbed a throw blanket from a basket and set it neatly on the ripped up couch.

“their parents know about this place?”

“of course not! gavin and north get along sometimes but that’s only to team up and make fun of us. as you know already, gavin’s an alcohol abuser and a stoner. north is just aggressive sometimes. she’s only pissed today because of either you guys or at home.”

“what do you mean ‘at home’?” eights pushes again and reached to touch the texture of the cloth couch. it would be comfortable if it wasn’t for the itchiness of it.

“i’m not allowed to talk about it. when are you guys planning on leaving?” luther asked as he picked up seemingly gavin’s empty bottles of scotch.

“uh, we just plan on going when it starts to get dark. we might stop by tomorrow though.” eights gave luther a smile and he smiled back.

“if you do then that’ll give us time to talk more tomorrow. north will have a ton of questions to ask you.”

“yeah, that’ll be okay.” eights went to sit on the couch and nines followed but he didn’t try to get comfortable even as eights laid his whole body to relax.

“i’ll show you the rooms tomorrow too so you won’t accidentally barge in on someone. unfortunately, i’ll have to get going now.” luther picked up a backpack from besides the front door and went to leave after eights said his farewells.

eights pulled up his mask and thought to himself. these people just hang out here. there haven’t been anything bad about them except for the fact they have access to alcohol and cigarettes but connor guesses that’s only gavin. he sighed and stared at the ceiling with a blue sticky hand stuck. he smiled internally at it. this place isn’t so bad, they’re never going to stay here but it’s not so bad.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone:   
> gavin: fuck this and fuck u  
> north: what he said  
> 8 & 9: where r we


	3. acting without thinking and thinking without acting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little fight, no blood drawn

sucking in air and gasping, richard sat up with a jolt. he groans into his hands and slunches over. adrenaline and disappointment floods his chest and he takes unsteady breaths, trying to focus to calm himself down. he takes his hands away from his eyes and looks at his digital clock.  _3:19 a.m._

he might as well stay up now, never a point to go back to sleep when he’ll be even more tired later. richard falls back on his bed and stares at the scattered popcorn ceiling, he always hated how it looked so he turns to his side to watch the curtains covering his window.

richard sighs and thinks back to yesterday. yesterday when connor and him went to jericho and witnessed many questionable things that the people who were there did. when he sat on the couch next to connor, he saw gavin run down the stairs. he was in dark red boxers but was holding towel around his neck. the almost naked teen was scavenging around in the kitchen. richard had gotten up by then, curious.

“where the fuck…?” gavin was standing on his tippy-toes on a short stool trying to grab a large yellow bag from the cabinet. his back had a curve to it and the light muscles flexed as he tried ever so hard to reach inside. “ugh, phck this.” he whispered to himself again and rounded his leg to push the rest of his body on the counter.

richard then got a look of the shorter man’s behind and as gavin’s fingers grazed the bag, the more richard’s face heated up. his face was burning and he didn’t know how to stop it. he couldn’t look away. why was he getting embarrassed over gavin’s antics? it wasn’t like richard was doing anything wrong. maybe it was the fact he was staring at the short teen’s naked body. he blushed harder and looked away instinctively, trying to keep his flush down.

“aha!” richard looked back as gavin exclaimed, holding a bag of cat food and hopped off the counter and stool. richard rushed out of the kitchen and back to the couch. hopefully gavin didn’t see him. his blush had already grew to his ears and as soon as connor saw him, he looked at his face in confusion.

“why is your face so red? are you okay?” connor has tried reaching out his hand to comfort richard but he slapped the hand and covered his face with his own one.

“i don’t want to talk about it.” he said muffled through his hand and dropped himself down on the couch.

“come on! tell me! did someone do something to you?” connor asked curiously and got closer to richard.

“i said i didn’t want to talk about it.” richard glared at connor but he had laughed it off and give in.

“fine, keep it to yourself.”

richard groaned in embarrassment at the memory. he was probably being such a creep, staring at gavin in such a inappropriate way. he was just barely clothed so of course the teen would be attractive. he doesn’t mean attractive in a gay way though. he also doesn’t mean attractive in a romantic or sexual way. he doesn’t know what he means. it’s like when people in public stare at you because you’re being stupid. gavin was being stupid and richard was the public. that’s right, he was shaming him for being so careless. richard was not gay. he also never liked girls. miss stern will just ask too many questions if richard were to tell her about his lovelife, especially if he was gay. which he wasn’t. richard could never be gay and especially not for someone like gavin. richard didn’t need a lovelife anyway. he was going to graduate high school and the get into a college and major in… he was going to major in…

he groaned in his pillow and got up. richard leaves his bed and turns on the bedside lamp to search for clothes to wear. he didn’t need to shower in the morning anymore if he was going to visit jericho again. it’s not like he’s planning to anyway, he’s just following connor around because he gotten a liking to markus.

richard finds a black turtleneck and takes it off of the coat hanger. this would make him look professional, so he wouldn’t be seen as anything else. he finds black jeans too. richard finishes changing and goes out of his room to see if connor might be awake.

his room was right next door anyway so might as well. richard opens the door all the way and glances in. connor seemed to still be asleep, as expected, it was still three a.m.

richard rolled his eyes and shuts the door. he walks to the kitchen to make himself coffee. he finds a mug on the counter and second-guesses it but as he looked inside, it didn’t have any stains so he just puts it under the two-way coffee machine. he presses the buttons, memorized the pattern by now, and waits for it to fill itself up.

when his coffee had been done, he pours in a little amount of almond milk and mixes it. richard began to hear miss stern’s voice through the wall and goes to stand outside of her room.

“...listen, i just don’t think that’ll be necessary.” who is she talking to? “boy, i have my own children at home with mouths to feed, i can’t stay there!” she was silent for a while and richard begins to think that her call has ended. he takes a sip and then her voice picked up again. “no, no. i’m sorry, you don’t need to do that. i’ll be there as soon as i can. first thing in the morning, but let me have time to pack.” richard hears her say a quiet see you then and when the he hears the door’s lock click, he’d thought miss stern was going to catch him eavesdropping but it seemed she was only locking it.

richard sighs in relief and steps away from her door. richard asked to himself, who was she talking to?

richard sat on the couch and chugged the rest of his coffee and burnt his throat. he didn’t pay any mind to the pain though, he just wanted the caffeine to flow through his bloodstream. this must be what gavin must feel like. desperate for alcohol as he is for coffee. maybe it’s something he needs. something to get through the day but richard still didn’t see the appeal. wouldn’t it just make you more disoriented then a stress-reliever? what was alcohol even used for? to get drunk, yes, but is that really all there is to it? it’s overrated if you ask him.

there he is thinking about the addict again. can’t he just get a grip and keep others out of his thoughts like he used to? gavin just had to plow his way into richard’s brain even though they had barely talked. it’s richard’s fault for letting him in then.

richard groans in frustration and gets off of the couch and quietly stomps to his room. he locks the door behind him and falls on his bed. richard frowns at himself. he glances at the clock again. 3:36 a.m.

he’s hopeless.

 

  
connor groggily gets up from his comfortable haven when his alarm clock dares to take him away, he let his hand land on his bedside table, searching for a way to stop the consistent noise. when it had turned off, he falls back down, relishing in the soft cloud-like covers. he lets out a sigh and let his mind and body drift off.

sooner or later, he feels his blanket disappear and a hard stick hitting him in the head.

“i’m gonna tell on you.” connor stubbornly kept his eyes shut while the curtains were being opened and he can practically feel an eye roll.

“do what you want but brush your goddamn teeth.” richard said when he pulled a toothbrush out of his mouth to speak, sticking it back in when he gave connor a kick.

“what’s up with you? you’re mean today.” connor finally opened eyes but squinted when sunlight hit his pupils.

“i’m mean everyday.”

“more mean.” connor pointed a finger at the ceiling and gave a shiteating grin.

richard throws connor’s blanket back at the sloth and swirls to face the exit until he realized the blockade.

“richard.” miss stern stood in front of him. she’s only a few inches shorter than him but still manages to strike as very threatening. richard could lie and say he wasn’t intimidated internally but he has too much of a reputation to hold in front of loved ones.

“miss.” richard gave a small curve of his mouth, trying to imitate a smile and failing miserably when miss stern quirked an eyebrow at him.

“i expected better of you, you know?” she crossed her arms in front of her abdomen and sighed. had she found out that richard had eavesdropped on her conversation earlier this morning? richard didn’t understand much of what she was talking about anyway. maybe he was thinking too loud and found out that he’d been dismissing a confusing sexual orientation from his own. could she hear him now perhaps? “i understand you try hard to become the role model for connor and—“

“incorrect, i would never look up to richard! have you met him?” connor interrupted and miss stern gave another sigh.

“i don’t try to even think of connor.” richard pulled an exaggerated look a disgust and connor stuck his tongue at him.

“okay, i get it,” miss stern pulled both of his hands out and thought doing that will put an end to the bickering.

“did you want to talk to me about something then?” richard looked back at his mother.

“i will have to be...absent for this week.” she said and took a long exhale as if she’d been holding her breath all morning. “it has nothing to do with you or connor, it’s just i have to work. i’ll be staying at a hotel until then and i’ll come back on saturday.”

“don’t you work at a university? why would you need to go?” connor asked.

“there had been a intruder and a possible robbery. police investigation would take a while and i have other plans.” miss stern took off her glasses and idly cleaned them spotless.

“when would you be leaving?” richard asked and leaned himself against a wall, shaking off his smug with the thought knowing that they can come by jericho with no worries of getting caught.

“i’ll be leaving this afternoon. i’m so sorry i won’t be able to continue lessons in physics, i just really need to get things sorted out.”

“miss, it’s okay. richard and i will make sure nothing happens until you get back.” connor smiles and it relieved a small portion of miss stern’s stress.

“indeed, but you would also have to keep yourself safe. people are unpredictable.” richard said with a mouth full of paste.

“okay, richie. i’ll have to finish up packing and i’ll say my farewells after.” miss stern smiled at both of her boys and stepped out of connor’s room.

after their mother walked out, the two brothers looked at each other.

“first one to the bathroom?” connor suggested with an anticipating smile.

“you can go, i’ll take a shower when we get back from jericho.” richard waves a hand at connor who was already accepting the offer as he rolled out of bed to rush to the bathroom as if he didn’t believe richard.

the elder brother let himself fall down from the wall to sit on the carpet. he was going to see gavin again. he had his doubts for if he was ever going to come back but now that miss stern is going to be away for a week he thinks he’s going to be fine.

would he have to talk to gavin about seeing him...no! why would he ever bring it up? it’s a normal thing to see other boys naked, like in public school where they have locker rooms. they see each other naked all the time and richard thinks they never have to talk about it. wouldn’t be gay if it was? if he was thinking about fucking gav—

richard immediately reacts shut his mind off by closing his eyes, like it would help. richard stands up and goes to the kitchen to make another cup of coffee.

after connor gets out of the shower and wrapped his towel around his waist, he looked into the mirror and touched his face. none yet. he shrugs his lack of facial hair off and grabs his hair gel and sticks his hair back, a tuft of it bounces back into its original position and stays. that’s what he gets for cutting his own hair that one time.

he finishes and walks out of the bathroom to see richard standing in front of the opened refrigerator, drinking presumably coffee. he doesn’t seem to be looking for anything either.

“what are you doing?” connor asked and richard flinched. he ignored connor and took a sip from his cup. connor rolled his eyes at his brother and walked into his room to change into some clothes.

richard continued to stare into the fridge. they should really buy more groceries. richard finds the basket of strawberries again but he doesn’t really feel like eating them. he make a bowl of cereal. richard takes out the almond milk and sets it on the counter along with his coffee. richard digs into the pantry and finds reese’s puffs. he pours the cereal into a bowl. he never liked cereal but there isn’t much in the house at the moment. right as he was about to pour his milk in, connor’s voice screamed from his room.

“rich! let’s go!” richard turns around and sees connor rushing to put on his backpack.

“what? we’re not going now.” richard said. “miss stern hasn’t left yet and i’m eating.”

“i saw markus outside my window, take the box with you.” connor jogged to the front door and motioned richard to follow.

richard blinked and grabbed his cereal and said a quick “connor and i are going to be outside!”

he barely heard a response from the woman before closing the door behind him and running after connor who was already at the end of the street.

richard sighed and ran after connor, annoyed by the constant shaking of the cereal in the box.

richard slowed down to jog around the corner and stopped in his tracks. his eyes widened in disbelief.

connor had been on the ground and markus has been kneeling on top of him. richard could only see markus’ back and connor’s face and his eyes that looked only fixed on the man in front of him.

as soon as connor saw richard though, he immediately pushed markus off and as the jericho member stumbled, connor’s face had been red. probably as red as when richard had been staring at gavin.

“ri—nines! this isn’t—“ connor swooped down and grabbed the backpack that had probably slipped off.

richard took his eyes off of his stuttering brother and to markus who had been sweating bullets.

“eights, i’m so sorry, i just—“ markus cut himself off short and waited for richard’s comment.

he didn’t have one in mind. only that the way they were so close seemed unlike friends scaring each other. richard stayed quiet nonetheless and markus didn’t seem relieved or did he seem panicked. he looked worried and kept giving connor side-glances.

connor looked back at markus with confusion and nervousness. richard could laugh to see his brother in such a state but he was confused too.

“would you two still like to head to jericho? i really am sorry for what i did.” markus spoke up and he started to give richard side-glances while idly rubbing the back of his neck.

“i-i forgive you. it’s just tha—yeah, let’s get going.” connor started walking away and richard looked at markus. the shared eye contact was quickly broken when markus heard someone yell his name.

“markus, you can’t be running off every time—“ north cut herself short when she saw richard and connor. her eyes turned dark and looked for markus for an explanation but he looked at the ground. connor had been walking and markus followed but didn’t make a move to speak.

richard tried catching up to connor but north stopped him.

“what happened?” she asked with little trust for connor.

“all i saw was your friend on my brother, which i don’t think was done in a friendly matter. i strongly would like to ask you to speak to him because if not i will have to—“

“oh my god.” north stared at richard with wide eyes and trying to keep her laughter inside.

“what?”

“oh, my god!” she looked at markus and eights and how far they were standing and how they were looking at anywhere except each other.

“why are you—“

“do you know what this means!” north was now full on smiling and it was an unfamiliar look on the hotheaded amber.

“obviously i do not.” richard was pulled down and north slyly whispers into his ear.

“they like each other.”

“then why did markus pin my brother to the ground?”

“no, you moron, have you ever dated anyone?” north rolled her eyes and was about to explain more before she heard no answer from richard and she immediately gasped. “you’ve never dated anyone!”

“so what? i’m not interested.” richard bit and north seemed to back off for once.

“okay, okay, i get it. but hear me when i say, they like each other.” north smirked.

richard still didn’t understand. why would connor like markus? they haven’t even known each other for two full days yet.

“don’t think too much about it, let it play out.” north said as if she could read his mind. he haven’t even known north for two full days yet. he looks at connor and markus and thinks a little thought to himself, could he ever like someone?

 

  
as soon as the four got to jericho, they notice that the entire group had been scattered on the porch. tina noticed them first and she yelled and waved them to hurry.

“to be honest, i didn’t think you two would show up.” tina patted connor’s shoulder and he chuckled.

“we were going to come later but you can thank markus for being a stalker.” connor grinned.

“i was trying to get your attention and it worked. sit down, i’ll get drinks.” markus walked inside and connor decides to sit down on the steps while richard stayed leaning on the wall next to the bench that held tina, gavin, and scooter. he watched as tina handed the black cat to gavin. the teen held it close to his face and got licked. richard looks away and listens to the other members talk instead.

“so,” the brothers turn to a new face. her hair had been cut short and bleached. her face kind and patient. “i’m kara.”

“eights. my brother here is nines.” connor notes her attire. she’s dressed as if she’s on the run but so is everyone here.

“are you twins?” kara asks.

“no.” they said at the same time but connor keeps talking. “nines was born first, i’m just a few months younger.”

“that would explain the slight height difference and your eyes.”

“i got the drinks.” markus walked back out and is holding water bottles and juice boxes.

“where’s the booze?” gavin’s loud voice whined.

“drink the water, you alcoholic.” tina grabs a water bottle and herself a juice box. gavin rolled his eyes and took a sip. when markus settled the bottles down, he sat on the floor close to where connor was sat.

“you have a story?” josh asks and connor notices how everyone quieted down.

“story?”

“y’know, like what was the bad thing that happened to you. jericho is a sort of safe haven.” simon explained.

“our dad passed away, i guess. it doesn’t bother us anymore since it happened ten years ago.” connor shrugged and stuck his straw into his juice.

“lousy past, you got there.” gavin rolled his eyes. “some of us went through worse.” he said the last sentence quieter though.

“it isn’t his fault he doesn’t have a traumatic childhood.” tina shushed him.

“well then why are they even here? they’re just wasting space and we can’t afford to get caught!” gavin tightened his hold on his bottle. “if you aren’t bothered anymore then you can leave!”

“gavin.” markus gave him a warning stare but he didn’t give in.

“what? you’re the one who invited them! they haven’t even been to school so how would they know the real world?”

“we went to school for all of elementary. we had to drop out because of bullies. is that good enough for a traumatic childhood for you?” connor bit and glared at gavin as he glared back with a sharp smile.

“aw, little puppy got kicked and now isolates himself at home?” tina puts a hand on gavin’s shoulder but he swipes her away. “you’ve never known middle and high school. you’ve never had a clue.”

“they were worse than you think.” connor doesn’t want to open up about this topic but gavin wouldn’t give up so why would he?

“how bad? they trick you? they beat you up until you were on the ground bleeding? they stole whatever you had on you? did you get blamed? did you fight back but they played the victim card? how bad, eights?” connor’s patience wore thin so he stood up and gavin did the same. scooter jumped off and hopped back on tina who was at a lost for words.

“why would i tell you?” connor stood tall so gavin would have to look up. he guesses that infuriated him more since the next second, gavin threw a splash of water at connor. connor somehow saw it coming and jumped to the side. he hid behind a pillar but gavin was at the side in an instant and was about to splash connor again. connor acted quick and grabbed gavin to take away the plastic bottle. he managed but gavin kicked and he got hit. gavin got closer and tried to get his weight on top of him but connor pushed him off. the next second, nines was holding gavin again and markus stopped connor from moving.

the two breathed hard. connor looks up at gavin and sees him touching his jaw with his hand. he must’ve elbowed him. connor wonders if he’s hurt anywhere because currently he can’t feel where the pain was since its seemingly everywhere.

“are you two fucking insane? gavin, get your ass inside!” north yelled. gavin was about to protest but nines put a hand to his mouth and pushed him to go in the house. “connor, sit.”

connor watched richard walk with gavin. he could’ve just stayed with connor. eights turns his head and rests himself on the steps. markus silently pats his back and north groans.

“you just got here and here you are picking fights with our most short-tempered friend, you really need to…”

eights looks at markus with a blank bored look and he burst into laughter. the sound echoing through connor’s ears and he smiles without knowing.

 

  
“bro, your brother is like scrawny as hell and he, like, beat the shit outta bitch boy.” tina chomped down on her apple and gavin threw a cold wet rag at her. “bitch boy!”

“i needed you to keep it on your face.” nines said coming back from the kitchen.

“fuck you, you’re not my fucking mom.” gavin caught the rag that tina threw back tried throwing it at nines but he caught it.

“bitch boy.” nines threw it back and gavin and smirked. gavin looked down and mumbled angry insults as he played with the rag in his hands.

tina’s phone rang in her pocket and she took it out to see who the caller was. she gasped and excused herself to run upstairs.

nines watched her vanish and turned his attention back on gavin. he was still fumbling with the rag and the bruise seemed to keep its red hue so nines decides to sit on the couch to move closer. “does it hurt?”

“i don't feel pain.” gavin smirked at himself. nines pressed the back of his hand on gavin’s jaw and he flinched and let out a small hiss. nines pulled back and his ears burned.

“you’re a dick.” gavin glared at nines.

“hold the rag on your jaw, the water is drying up.” gavin continues to glare at nines and he sighed and took the white rag to press it on the stubborn teen.

“ow! if you’re going to try to help, do it gently!” gavin brought one of legs up on the couch and looked for a place to lay it. nines offered his lap but gavin ignored him and stuck it behind nines.

“i never thought eights would be able to hurt anybody, you know.” nines focused on the bruise and leaned closer.

“he didn’t hurt me! i get roughed up all of the damn time. this doesn’t bother me and i don’t know why you’re helping.”

“i kind of thought if i cared for your injury then you won’t whine about it but it seems like my assumption was incredibly incorrect.” nines watched as gavin snorted and broke into a short chuckle.

“yeah, you should’ve left me to suffer. doesn’t matter now though since you’re already here.” nines watched gavin bare his teeth to smile and his sharp canines. he almost watched as gavin fidgets with his fingers. the pattern is mindless and obviously uncontrollable. “hey, pass me that on your side.”

nines turns to see a cigarette box on the table. “absolutely not.”

“fine then, you’re useless.” gavin gets up from spot and climbs over nines to reach the cigarettes. nines looks at gavin’s arched back to his lower back to…

“i—“ nines starts but gavin returns holding the little box with a satisfied smile on his face, pulling out a neon pink lighter. “you’re doing this indoors?”

“what? you don’t like the smell or something?” gavin said with the stick in his mouth and lit it.

“i would recommend you go outside.”

“don’t really wanna see your brother at the moment, man.” gavin exhaled and let a puff of smoke dance in the air.

nines hummed in understanding and rests his head on the back of the couch to stare again. the ceiling was different this time. it was smooth and maybe a few stains and cracks but it was better to look at than his own at home.

“you’re so fuckin’ weird, y’know that?” nines turns and gavin was faking his grimacing and a small smile could be seen.

“how so?” nines’ own mouth curved too.

“you’ve been holding a fucking cereal box the whole time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nines, looking @ gavin’s ass: no homo


	4. basically, right now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it can’t be a filler chapter if i add tragic backstories in

“shut up, tina, i just wanna try this out.” markus said in a mockingly whiny voice.

“i thought we were going to talk and not have a dysfunctional family dinner.” josh said on the right and looked at markus who had his fingers crossed like he was the leader in a broken mafia.

“you’re dysfunctional.” gavin shot josh a teasing look and snickered with tina at his side, sharing a box of reese’s puffs.

“just because i volunteered to tutor my peers doesn’t mean i’m dysfunctional. you’re lucky i’m your friend or else you would’ve gotten expelled for failing classes.”

“you can get expelled for failing?” luther asked with mild concern.

“gavin can pull off getting expelled, even the classes he doesn’t even take.” kara covered her mouth but she could be heard loud and clear.

“oh shut up. every teacher is out to get me, i have evidence.” gavin huffed and the sheer feeling of doubt radiating in the air causes him to defend himself. “i really do! hatter failed me on my last test even though i got most of the questions right!”

“that’s because you were looking off someone else’s test and she saw you.” josh pointed out.

“you were looking off my test?” simon gaped in betrayal.

“no one said that!”

“i saw him, he was.” tina giggled.

“traitor!”

“could we not talk about this anymore?” markus deadpanned out of exhaustion.

“thank you!” gavin threw a quick side eye at tina and after two seconds, they both laughed.

“okay, so, eights, nines. what’re you planning?” markus looked straight into their eyes and all of the sudden, all eyes were on them.

“what do you mean exactly?” eights asked with anxiety from being on the spotlight.

“i mean, now that you know about jericho and all of us, what’re you going to do?” markus looked serious and to be honest, eights was freaked out. he looked at nines for a second but his expression kept still and robotic.

“are you asking if we’ll turn you in? because, surely, by now we would’ve.” nines said and looked into markus’ heterochromic eyes.

“why haven’t you? we stole a house, we’re harboring alcohol and wherever gavin gets his cigarettes from.” markus looked genuinely stumped and eights was about to answer but no thought came to mind.

“well, isn’t this place supposed a safe haven? how safe would it be if the cops came and evacuated it?” eights attempted to bring more positivity and possibly a chance. the question is what chance is he willing to take?

“so, basically, you wanna stay at this shithole with a bunch of shitheads?” gavin raised an eyebrow at eights.

“why not? nines and i don’t really have friends so this is a nice change. also our mother isn’t going to be home for the week.”

“a week, you say? god, i wish that was me.” north sighed dreamily at the thought.

“do you two have phones?” tina asked excitedly.

“yeah, we didn’t bring them but we could head back.” eights replied and tina nodded, smiling mysteriously devilishly.

“if you’re gonna go back then might as well stay here for the week if your momma won’t be home.” markus suggested and everyone agreed or shrugged except for gavin.

“hold up! they are not staying here! where would they sleep and shit?” gavin said loudly and crossed his arms when their attention was turned to him.

“obviously the living room unless you two wanna take one of the bedrooms.” simon pointed.

“that would be preferable.” nines said and eights nodded in agreement.

“gavin, just share this bigass house with two more people. even though i have no idea what you do here alone but these two won’t cause much trouble,” josh turned to eights and nines, and proved a point in his head.

“phckin’ fine,” gavin hopped off the counter and starts walking out of the kitchen corridor before stopping. “just stay outta my way.”

after gavin left, the kitchen starts to get less crowded as tina runs after gavin and kara excusing herself to handle a babysitting offer and luther asking to help out. josh, north, and simon heads upstairs to finish homework but simon stopped in front of eights and nines.

“i hope you enjoy your stay at hotel jericho.” they laugh and the blonde teen walks away. markus watches simon walks away and turn back to see eights looking at him. they stared at each other for a moment until eights worried that he might’ve gotten markus uncomfortable so he looks away and was about to say something to nines but he gets up from his chair.

“i’m going to go look around.” and without eights being able to say anything else, nines disappears.

he hops up the stairs and finds himself in between two hallways with floral wallpaper gently peeling from the ceiling. there weren’t any pictures on the walls but were traces of them used to be hung.

nines looks both ways and notices loud yelling coming from the left hall. only two of the rooms’ doors were open so nines guesses tina and gavin were in the loud room and simon, josh, and north were at the farthest room in the right hallway. nines wouldn’t want to disturb them studying so he decides to look in to the two rooms that were closed in the left hall.

nines stands in front of one of them and turns the knob. he peered in and there only seemed to be some yoga mats and three pull out sofas. they all had different designs such as mickey mouse clubhouse, minions, and shopkins with many empty chip bags scattered across the carpet floor. nines slowly closed the door and continued on with the next room.

he opened that door to a bathroom with the curtains drawn shut. he tried to turn on the sink faucet but no water came out. it wasn’t like jericho was paying for water bills anyway.

he pulled back the spongebob shower curtain and stared deadpan at the spawn of multi-colored rubber ducks and empty alcohol bottles. he also didn’t miss the wrinkled clothes hanging on top of the curtains. nines stopped his mind from asking too many questions and quickly left the bathroom.

when nines finally went to check on gavin and tina, before he even stepped in he heard screaming. scared out of his mind, nines slowly snuck his head to look inside.

“oh my god, stand still, what are you fucking doing. oh shit, oh fuck.”

“g-gavin, i’m gonna shit my pants, this is the stupidest fucking thing i’ve ever done in my whole life. oh my god, i’m not ready to die. send help, please please please pl—“

nines stared and hoped that god wasn’t watching. gavin was cowering in fear with two phones in his hand and half a pair of scissors in his other hand with the other half sticking into the wall. tina was standing with her arms out and with a fucking coat hanger inside her shirt.

gavin caught sight of nines and sighed in relief as if all of his problems melted away even though there was obviously a big problem standing right in front of him. “thank god, dude, get that scissor in the wall. we’re cutting this bitch open.”

“that’s not making me feel better.”

nines stayed stood frozen and gavin warned. “nines, we’re freaking out!”

nines finally blinked and hurried to pull the scissor out of the wall, not bothering to ask anything and just quickly hurrying to gavin’s side.

“you dumbasses better not cut my tit.” tina said trying not to move.

“on three. one.” gavin started counting down and looked at nines to see if he was ready. he nodded in affirmation and gavin breathed out “two.”

 

“oh my fuck, just slice me alrea—“

  
  
  


“won’t you like to go with him? you also haven’t seen the place in its entirety yet.” markus asked awkwardly.

“oh, i mean, it’s fine. i can always go do that.” eights awkwardly shifts in his seat, trying not to make it more awkward with markus staring at him. “besides, nines likes doing things by himself.”

“and you?” markus rests his head on his palm and waits for eights’ answer.

“i don’t know. i mean, i’ve always worked with nines but i never really gotten a chance to do things with other kids.” eights shrugged.

“why’s that? you don’t like other kids?”

“no, the opposite, really. they just never let us join in stuff because since we were ‘twins’, they thought we had doubled of everything, which couldn’t be more far off from the truth.”

“but you’re not twins.” markus squinted in confusion.

“exactly!” eights said laughing, markus chuckled slowly. “then we left that school and never really thought about going back.”

“just because they didn’t let you play with them?” markus laughed.

“in elementary school, that only happened. then, middle school just...got too much.” eights frowned when markus stopped laughing but he probably thought eights frowned because of the memory.

“i’m sorry to hear that.” markus confessed genuinely.

“glad at least you do.” connor rolled his eyes.

“hey, gavin may not be the nicest–“

“that’s an understatement.”

“okay, he is fucking horrible, but he means well. really loyal and all that if you’re close to him. you weren’t the only one that dealt with bad things.” connor nodded in understanding. he doubt he would ever get to a mutual level with gavin but he can live with him like a co-worker or something.

“yeah, you’re right.”

“well, since you told me the basic of your treacherous past. would you like to listen to me?” markus gave an offering smile and connor copied.

“sit with me, then.” eights patted the seat next to him and markus got up to do so. “tell me all about it.”

“well,” markus started stripping off his shirt and connor’s’ face flumed.

“what—“ connor stopped short when he saw scars on markus’ shoulders and when he looked down to his waist, there had been more. connor tried looking back at markus’ face but he couldn’t.

“i got these when i used to live with my old folks.” markus spun around to show connor his back. there had been some old scratches and scars.

“they...they did this to you?” connor finally looked back up at markus and he didn’t look proud or anything like that. he seemed to have accepted it.

“well, my shoulder and my face but that healed. you can still kinda see the scars since i had to go to the hospital to snitch them. the rest are from my attempt to get away from those sadists. i ended up in a landfill and passed out. it was so cold, i was about fourteen too. i couldn’t take it and walked around until an old guy picked me up and took me in. he’s my dad now.”

“an old guy is your dad now, huh.” connor smirked at markus who seemed to now be in his happy place.

“you got an old guy as your dad?”

“i used to have an old guy as my dad. he isn’t around anymore though. even if he couldn’t help homeschool us, we loved him. we knew him for seven years and then my mom married him. they’re divorced now, i don’t even know why.” connor thinks back and wonders why miss stern have never told him. he deserves to know, doesn’t he? how bad could the secret be anyway?

“that must suck.” markus seemed to still be listening. that’s good. connor really needed to talk to someone else. talking to richard over and over was getting a little repetitive anyway.

“i guess. it was back in 2009 so i’m over it.” connor have a reassuring smile in case markus didn’t believe him for whatever reason. he didn’t show any of that though. markus just smiled back causing connor to smile differently.

suddenly, a loud screech came from upstairs followed by a loud crack and two thumps. eights’ expression was terrified and confused but markus deadpanned.

“you should probably go and grab some stuff you would need for the week.” markus said.

“right,” eights stood up and pushed in his chair. “i’ll get nines.”

“hey eights,” markus stops eights before he reaches the stairs. “bring your dog mask.”

“how could i not?” connor smiles. markus wasn’t a bad person, not in the slightest.

  
  


eights was wandering the halls and walked past the open room. he took a quick glance and continued walking but stops. he walks backwards and actually took a better look at the scene. tina was sprawled out on the ground with her shirt ripped open. he saw a pair of scissors that were no longer connected and nines and gavin lying on the bed.

“if a scissor is a pair then would it be called a scis or a knife if it’s not a pair anymore?” gavin said and stared at the ceiling.

“we could’ve just turned the coathanger vertically and just slide it out.” nines said with hands covering his face.

“y’all are paying for my shirt.”

eights looked at the coathanger and, it had been broken but he also saw two knives in the wall but their handles were part of a scissor.

“what...happened?”

“nothing, fuck off.”

“a near-death experience.”

“hi eights.”

  
they all said at once and eights nodded and walked out of the doorway. _this house is weird as fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8 and markus, sharing their pasts: <3  
> 9 and gavin, sharing shower thoughts: <3


	5. cloud nine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda sorry and not sorry that this chapter took a lil longer. i hope it’ll b worth the wait!

by the time eights and nines got back from rummaging around in their house to prepare for the seven-day sleepover at jericho and got back, they were quickly pulled aside before they could put their stuff down. markus smiled with a blue bandana around his neck and both of his hands holding spray paint.

“why do you look like a gangster?” eights said trying to conceal his amusement. markus had black cargo pants and his long sleeved shirt was heathered gray.

“isn’t jericho basically a gang?” nines thought out loud.

“of street rats.” gavin said rummaging through the bottom cabinets. the echo of his voice inside the storage space was raspy. nines watched as he started exiting the space and bumping his head on the top of it. 

“you two aren’t in our gang of street rats yet,  _ until _ you spray.” markus tossed both eights and nines bottles of spray paint and looking at markus in confusion.

“that sounds like skunk hazing.” gavin said as he walked by with a styrofoam cup in his hand.

“why are we going to vandalize?” eights looks at the spray paint then back at markus like he killed his dog.

“you walked into this house, didn’t you?” markus monotones. how can he be sure that connor and richard would ever vandalize?

“when do we start?”  _ what the fuck, richard? _

“that’ll be a surprise. where we're going isn’t illegal.” markus said with smug.

“spray painting in general is illegal.” josh looked at his phone. “but it’s the perfect time to do it.”

“the sun is about to set.” eights said looking out of the one window that isn’t covered by curtains.

“that’s the fuckin’ point, moron.” gavin said spinning his cup, watching the liquid spin.

“what are you trying to accomplish.” nines asked watching, obviously intrigued to find out gavin’s answer.

“it looks like a tsunami.”

_ that’s not what a tsunami is.  _ nines thinks as he numbly covers half of his face with his hand.

nines looked over at tina who was grinning like she was the fucking smartest person in the world. “he learned what a tsunami was on friday.”

“he didn’t know?” 

“you genuinely believed he knew?” simon snickers, sipping his capri sun.

“i wouldn’t have thought to doubt him.” nines says defensively.

“you’ve got a long way to go.” markus pats him on his shoulder.

“he does know it’s not a tsunami though, right?”

“he’s high, nines.” tina says and slurps her coffee loudly.

“can we just get this over with already?” eights asks, tired of gavin’s stupidity and richard’s obvious adoration. 

“i thought you’d never ask, eights!” markus lifts his arms into the air and grins. “pack a bag and we’ll go as soon as we see everyone outside.”

“i’m not coming.” north says with her arms crossed and eyes digging into the identical brothers.

“yes you are.” markus says as he throws an orange spray bottle at her.

“fine.” north groans and shakes the bottle viciously. 

  
  
  
  


after everyone had been done getting their things together, jericho decides to split into twos so no one would call the police when they see ten teenagers with heavy black backpacks and clothing that seem to make them belong to a gang; which isn’t so far from the truth.

gavin and tina used to always go together but they get in too much trouble hitting people’s trees with branches on the ground so markus made nines take care of gavin, nines didn’t have anything bad to say about it. obviously gavin didn’t agree but he had no choice as tina partnered up with eights. markus has went with simon and josh went with north. luther and kara went on the outskirts of the neighborhood. 

gavin and nines went behind the jericho house. gavin had been talking the whole way but nines couldn’t do anything about it since he didn’t know where he was going. he half-trusted gavin that he wouldn’t get lost on the way as tina claimed that she was a human gps. gavin had his black hood on with a cap under it. he also had shorts on the outside of yoga pants that might’ve belonged to tina but nines wasn’t going to judge. he, himself, was just wearing his white jacket and some black jeggings. then the embarrassing kiddie robot mask that eights made him bring.

gavin had been talking about his school life and how much it sucked. he complained but only had nice things to say about his coach and the other kids in his class.

“you’re in track?” nines asks, genuinely curious for more stories.

“of course, i am! i need to be in shape so i can get away from the rednecks that throw fucking eggs at us.”

“what did you do to them?” 

“you’re too young to know right now.” gavin grinned and pat richard’s shoulder.

“i’m older than you.” nines says, asserting dominance.

“oh? october 7, 2002.” 

“november 20, 2002.” they said at the same time and gavin perks up.

“ha! who’s older now? no wonder i’m leading you right now.” gavin gave a shiteating grin and nines rolls his eyes.

“that’s because markus said this would be a surprise, nothing to do with you being older by a month.” nines says with a small curve to his mouth breaking his bored expression. he could never be bored around gavin.

“yeah, yeah, dick.” gavin adjusted his hat and continued the track conversation. “i’m a track star but there has been this dick who’s trying to take my fuckin’ spot!”

“oh?” had that sounded too eager?

“yeah, his name is thomas burke and i wanna blow up that dumb head with rubber bands.” gavin flexed his hands and proceeded to squeeze an imaginary head.

“what does that even mean?”

“dude’s head is as big as a fucking watermelon! no idea how he carries it while running.” gavin sticks his veiny hands into his pockets. “y’know, one time i saw burke get a hold on the coach’s timer and hand it back politely like the fucking two-faced bastard he is.”

“did you tell on him?”

“aye, i ain’t a snitch now but nobody would believe a dumbass that snaps. i didn’t have evidence anyway, tina tried helping me but she did the bare minimum since she liked the dude because he is dating one of her friends.” gavin let his head fall to the side. richard worried that his neck would snap because of the angle it obviously wasn’t used to.

“i believe you.”

“you don’t know him. if you had, you would’ve been on his side.” gavin let his eyes drift away and look at the sky.

“trust me, i would’ve believed you.”

“why would you?”

“i don’t like nice guys.” richard says smugly and looks for a change in gavin’s expression, and surely there was.

“ha! you’re lucky you’re with me then!” gavin had turned his head back at nines and smiled crookedly. nines let his smile pass through and he relished in gavin’s laughter. it made his chest relax and his suspicion of markus’ surprise location melt.

“i guess i am.”

  
  
  
  


eights and tina walked with markus and simon through the entrance he and richard had went through the first time. then, they split off when they neared a corner of the street and eights and tina turned into there.

“it’ll be okay, i never got lost in my whole life. i only get lost when i’m with gavin because he’s a dumbass and—“ she stopped and laughed nervously. eights looked at her confused. “well, and this girl i like.”

“ooh! you have a crush?” eights’ confusion disappears and turns into excitement.

“ah, ah, ah. don’t tell anyone!” tina shushes eights and he laughs.

“not even gavin?” eights smirks.

“oh, i think he figured it out by now. i wasn’t really being hidden when i talk to her.”

“what’s her name?”

“katie candice. we met when we sat next to each other in my english class. she helps me with notes, can you believe that?”

“what a keeper.”

“oh my god, i know. she doesn’t really like gavin all too much though. she told me he pushed her but gavin says he only pushes dudes.”

“maybe from the side unintentionally?”

“probably but they’ll make up when i ask her out.” tina said in a singalong voice, emphasizing when she said she’ll ask katie out.

“do you know she likes you?”

“bro, honestly, i’m gonna wing it. i think i gave off enough bi vibes though, but like i’m gonna ask her a couple questions and if she only dated guys before then what’s wrong with a little exploring with me, y’know?” tina shrugged.

“you’ve thought this through.”

“thank you, i have. i need some encouragement from gavin though. he gets me hyped. if only he didn’t already like her because she yelled at him. don’t you hate when this happens?”

“i wouldn’t know but it sounds stressful.” 

“ah, of course. you ever had a crush?” 

“some boys from cartoons, i say shamelessly.” eights looks away from tina to ignore her either judgement or confusion.

“oh my god, who? i love cartoons.” well, never mind.

“danny phantom, keith and lance from voltron, and marco from star vs. the forces of evil.”

“oh my god, i’m in love with them too!” tina shrieks.

“oh my god, you are?” connor says in a higher voice too.

“oh my fuck, of fucking course!” tina screams. “but lemme tell you who else.”

“who?” connor says with an excited smile.

tina smiles mischievously and connor swears her eyes turned darker. she says in a low, mocking voice, “i’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at markus, you fucking filthy whore.”

connor’s world frooze.

  
  
  
  


after a couple minutes of walking, nines and gavin finally made it to the place markus has told them to go and when they got there, everybody had been sitting around waiting.

“oh great, they’re here!” kara clapped her hands and got up excitedly.

“where exactly is here?” nines asks. there was a path into a little forest so one of the pairs probably went through there. nines and gavin had been walking next to a large concrete wall, almost overtaken by vegetation. there had been a few graffitis along the way but there were enjoyable to look at. gavin had lots of positive things to say about them. nines was trying to figure out the meaning behind them, like most art in museums.

“listen up there, smartass.” gavin pointed his finger up and nines followed. he saw an edge of a bridge. not a bridge, there’s grass growing from the side and not a lot of cars driving along. they were the sound of wheels, though. it seemed to be a lot of thrashing and the wheels were bouncing. there had also been laughter and obnoxious cheering. “we’re under a skateboard park.”

nines takes in the colorful hollowed out place. it looked like people could live here. water bottles were in the corner and there were shopping carts from all sorts of retail and grocery stores, filled to the brim of spray paint and fabrics. like there were there for runaways or people stopping by.

“is there significance to this spot?”

“of course, there is! kids around here call this beautiful museum, troll park.”

“troll? as in trolls that live under a bridge in children’s books?”

“what else? and also they aren’t children’s books if gavin reads them.” simon chirped and gave a smug look at gavin.

“fuck you too, phillips.”

“aight, eights, nines, are you ready to spray your first?” markus said joyously. he was way too excited for the brothers, but they didn’t mind, it felt so much better than being stuck at home with miss stern. 

“yeah, get your bottles out, boys!” tina exclaimed and gavin ran over to her, shaking his own red spray paint ready.

nines takes off his backpack and takes out two blue and white bottles. eights had his own black and blue bottles. there walked over to be face-to-face with the concrete wall, a space that hasn’t been painted over yet.

nines pulled his mask over his nose and looked at eights with his dog mask on. he had dad’s beanie on so nines decides to bring his hood to cover his head.

nines shook the bottle one last time and pushed his finger on the trigger. a bright blue blast came out and nines smiled behind the mask.  _ that blue stain was going to stay. rain can’t wash it away. _

_ this was going to be permanent, no one would have the time to clean it up.  _

nines takes a step back and switches to his white paint. he shook it and sprayed the old gray wall. it was mesmerizing, being able to let his thoughts go into the rhythm of his hand and the spray bottle. he tosses his bottles to switch and added blue drops. he watches the blue drips.

“let me borrow the black paint.”

nines didn’t take his eyes off of his art. he just laid his hand out and soon enough, another cold bottle appeared. nines shook it and colored in his white cloud to turn it black but the outline of the white was on the outside. he switches to white again and then blue to paint a nine as big as his head.

“cloud nine, huh? creative mind you got there.” gavin’s voice was heard in nines’ left and he chuckled.

“i never thought i could be smiling like this.”

“oh? lemme see, robo-face.” gavin turned nines’ head and nines saw a bright smile. gavin pulled down the silly mask and his eyes had widened. the look of surprise on the teen’s face was unexpected. nines breathed out of his nose and smiled, all toothy and white.

“like what you see?”

“nah, you ugly.” gavin said and then bursted out laughing. “kidding, you done with your cloud? come look at the things i made!”

gavin grabbed on to nines’ hand and he stared at gavin’s back and then down to his hand holding his. he liked the feeling, even if they had been wearing gloves. nines never thought he’d like today. he never thought he’d ever have the best day ever, something he never had an answer for in elementary school when they would give out  _ get to know you _ worksheets.

he’s glad that gavin is in that day though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tina: owo  
> connor: oh fuck oh shit oh fuck—
> 
> nines, spraypainting: wow i love this  
> gavin, holding his hand:  
> nines: wOW I LOVE THIS

**Author's Note:**

> updates and details at tumblr (@lilsickooutside), come by and talk to me on there if you’d like.


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